Automobile-headlight



FRANK A. REECE, OF HOPKIN'TON, MASSACHUSETTS.

AUTOMOBILE-HEADLIGHT,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 17, 192i).

Application led August 8, 1917. Serial No. 185,153.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK A. Renon, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hopkinton, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Automobile- Headlights,of which the following is a specification, reference being had thereinto the accompanying drawings.

My invention has for its object a device conveniently called a dimmingscreen to be placed in front of an ordinary head light, such as is usedon automobiles and which has a parabolic or substantially parabolicreflector, and is for the purpose of preventing glare above apredetermined point at a distance from the headlight. The deviceconsists essentially of a series of horizontal or substantiallyhorizontal slats or plates together forming a screen through which rayswhich are traveling in a horizontal plane can pass freely while rayswhich are traveling upward and therefore would tend to be blinding areintercepted. The several slats of which the device is composed arerelatively wide and are placed close together and accurately spaced andalined, so that only such rays as are practically horizontal can passbetween them. They must be held in place so securely that the vibrationto which the car is subjected will not cause them to change theirposition or to rattle. As the slats are made very thin so that thepercentage of the horizontal rays intercepted kby the edges of the slatswill be reduced to a minimum, considerable difficulty has beenexperienced in securing them satisfactorily in place throughout theirentire length. The dimming screen embodying my invention is soconstructed that it can be made at a minimum of expense. The slatscomposing it are perfectly alined and the whole is secured together insuch a manner that no part of it can rattle or get out of alinement.1With a single exception, no solder or brazing is employed, andtherefore the work of manufacture is reduced to a minimum.

The invention will be fully understood from the following descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novelfeatures thereof are pointed out and clearly defined in the claims atthe close of this specification.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a front eleva tion of a lamp provided with adimming screen embodying my invention'.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and t are detail viewsof the slats. F ig. 5 is a detail showing a modified form of slat.

Referring to the drawings, at 11 is shown an outer casing surroundingthe main head light A and the auxiliary light B. The dimming screen isplaced in front of the upper half of the main head light only, and isheld in place between the glass 1/1 and an inner ring, as will bedescribed. The outer casing 11 is provided with a circular flange 12,the front edge of which is inturned as shown at 13, to provide an edgeagainst which the glass 1d rests. The ring 12 protrudes beyond the frontof the lamp a distance equal to the width of the slats 15 composing thescreen. The slats extend across the lamp from one side to the other withtheir front edge horizontal. Their top surfaces are at right angles tothe plane of the glass 14e and are therefore horizontal if the glass 14is placed in a vertical position. In actual practice, however, it iscustomary to incline the entire lamp downwardly so that a ray of lightpassing between the adjacent slats will strike the ground at least 200feet from the car ifthe lamp is supportedabout feet above the ground.The slats are made of very thin sheet metal, either bright or dull, Tnpractice, l make them about one one-hundredth of an inch in thicknessand make the space between each pair of slats about one-eighth of aninch. The slats are preferably of a width which is about one-eighth thediameter of the lamp. These proportions may be varied somewhat accordingto the size of the lamp, but substantially these proportions areessential to produce a satisfactory re sult.

The lowest slat 15 is permanently secured at its ends to a section ofthe ring 12 and is also supported in the center by a vertical strut 16,secured at its lower end to the ring section 12. Next above the slat 15is a slat 15 which has five U-shaped loops e see Fig. 3, formed atintervals throughout its length by bending the slat upon itself. Two ofthese U-shaped loops are at the extreme end of the slat. The slat is ofsuch a length that it will lill the entire space between the sides ofthe lamp except for the 'space occupied by a Jfelt strip 17 in` terposedbetween the ends of the slats and the ring 12. The other `loops c arespaced so that the slat will be supported by the loops which contactwith the lower slat at substantially equi-distant points. The slat 15bwhich is just above the slat 15a is substantially the same inconstruction except that the intermediate loops are spaced some whatydifferently. The loops on the other slats are arranged similarly so thatwhen all theslats are assembled there will be siX vertical' rows ofloops and further so that the-loop of one slat will not rest on the loop(ofthe, slat below. The loops on the sides of the Yupper slats arespaced somewhat dii'- vferently as will be seen from the drawing,

to allow for the curvature of the upper part of the ring. Theconstruction of the loops at the ends of the slats varies somewhat. Theloops at the ends of the flower slats are made as shown in Fig. 3.

The loops at the ends of the slats above these are made as shown inFig. 1. The

- loops `at the ends of the slats above these areinade fas shown in Fig.3; the slats at the top of the lamp are also constructed` as .shown 1nFig. 3. This construction is such that the ends of the slats receive asatisbeing provided by means of screws 20, 20. This construction is suchthat the whole device is locked securely in place. While it is notabsolutely necessary to do so, it is clesirable to braze or solder inthe ends of the lower slat 15 and the strut 16 to the ring section l2.

`While I consider the U-shaped loop of the form shown in Figs. 1, 3 and1 the most satisfactory, I do not limit myself to this form, as undercertain conditions other forms may be employed successfully withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, for instance, the Jtornishown in Fig. 5 which is substantially semi-circular in shape. This issomewhat easier to manufacture than the U-shaped form previouslydescribed.

What I claim is 1. A. dinnning screen for a headlight coinprising aring, a glass, and a series of slats within the said ring spaced apart`from each other by loops formed by bending the slats, and a ring withinthe first mentioned ring. adapted to compress the slats between the twosaid rings.

2. A dimming screen for headlights which comprises a series of slatsoccupying the upper portion of the head light, the lower member of thelower slat being supported by a vertical strut and the slats above saidlower slat being spaced apart from each other and supported by loopsformed by bending the slats upon themselves.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature.

FRANK A. REECE.

